


cinnamon buns

by sa_honey



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Developing Friendships, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:48:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24263863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sa_honey/pseuds/sa_honey
Summary: Being a baker was supposed to be a humble life. The day in, day out monotony of creating the same delicious pastries and cakes brought Mingi solace. Well, that was until his world gets turned upside down by a shy girl with a slight obsession with cinnamon buns.
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Reader, Song Mingi/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: the wait is over!!! enjoy this slow burn fanfic and all the twists it’ll take you on. I love you all lots and have a good day!

Life was never supposed to be incredibly ordinary for Song Mingi. He was a man like any other man who had dreams and aspirations. He had a degree in architectural engineering, a family that he was very proud of, and a kind heart which did him more harm than good.

So, when his mother had an accident after his graduation he dropped everything and decided to help out with the family business rather than pursuing his life goals. Of course, his parents urged him otherwise but what kind of son would he be if he made his elderly parents look after the family business by themselves when there is clearly a lot going on otherwise.

But you see that's where our story starts; with a guy working in a bakery who felt like his life had lost meaning. Sure, he knew why he was doing what he was doing, but he couldn't help but think about what life could have in store for him. He didn't want to stay working in the bakery for the rest of his life, he wanted to make his parents proud and experience what the world has to offer outside of a small town.

. . .

That morning started like every other morning.

Mingi woke up at the crack of dawn, the dregs of sleep still clinging to his eyes, urging him for just five more minutes. The air was icy and blew down the back of his neck, making him tunnel deeper into the warm, welcoming covers.

“Rise and shine,” the muffled voice of his father broke through the comfort in his room, followed closely by a light knocking on the door, “It’s bread-making hour.”

Mingi rolled over in bed, peeling open his eyes and glaring at the offending door. There are certain things that make working at a bakery fun; the constant smell of fresh bread and cakes, the recurring faces you get to learn the stories behind, and the ability to brighten anyone’s day. However, making bread at 6 am is _not_ on that list.

It didn’t take him long to reach an adequate level of consciousness in order to start his day - no thanks to the freezing cold water that greeted him in the shower - and he soon was dressed and joined his father downstairs in the bakery.

Side by side, the two of them began the monotonous task of making pastries and cakes to fill the long row of display cases.

"I haven't seen Hongjoong around of late, how is he keeping?" his father’s voice broke the amicable silence.

Mingi perked up from his groggy state next to his dad at the sound of his best friend’s name, "He's doing great actually he's almost saved up enough to apply for that apprenticeship in London."

"Ahhh wow,” His dad held a soft smile on his face, “I always knew that boy would go far," Mingi held a proud feeling in his heart after hearing this. He knew how much his dad meant to Hongjoong; he could practically see the boyish blush that would undoubtedly form when he told him.

He unclipped the bowl of yeasty dough from the mixer and turned it out onto the lightly floured surface in front of him before dusting his hand and beginning to knead the dough.

"And how about your tall friend? The overly happy one, Yoongi isn't it?"

"Yunho, and he's doing good, he's pursuing photography right now in New York, he’s really good actually," He grabbed a handful of chilled butter cubes and began evenly kneading them into the dough, taking care to ensure they were nicely incorporated all throughout the mixture.

Then he felt the atmosphere shift between himself and his dad, the early warning system every child has built-in for when your parents are about to have ‘a talk’ with you and you can emotionally prepare or try and flee to safety.

Unfortunately, the second wasn’t an option.

He heard his father sigh, a sound that was far too familiar in these situations, "You know son, your mother and I, we're-"

"Dad, it's ok, I want to be here. I know I don't have to, but I want to. It gives me a chance to figure everything out.” He continued to work on the dough in front of him, trying to keep the conversation light and easy. “You don't worry about me staying because you’re scared that I feel obligated to. I know you and mum could always hire somebody else but . . . No one makes chocolate chip cookies the way I do, and you'd be losing your best team member." His dad laughed, the tense atmosphere slowly faded away into something more tolerable.

The early morning prep was always the same every single morning, so there was an art of slipping into autopilot to it, in order to not go crazy from making flavour after flavour of cookies and cupcakes, or the inhumane loads of bread. The shelves had to be overflowing, ‘there can never be too much’ his mum would always remind him.

Around 7 am his dad would always head back upstairs to make them all breakfast while Mingi would clean the shop and get their coffee machines ready for the early morning zombie hoard that he was used to.

With music gently through the bakery work became easier, he danced around like a crazy person to the upbeat songs and sang at the top of his lungs, it was therapeutic to be alive this early. He enjoyed being the only person around at such an hour, not awake but around.

After breakfast, Mingi went downstairs to add the last-minute touches to the storefront. He straightened out the chairs and tables, wiped down all the surfaces, and turned on the tv to a music channel to brighten up the atmosphere in the store. Then they opened the shop up and let in the early morning customers.

"Good morning Mrs Lee what can I get you anything special today? Or would you like your usual?"

The normally grumpy lady had a soft spot for him and her motherly face beamed up at him as she requested, "Half a loaf of bread, four choco-chip cookies, two cinnamon buns and a kiss on the cheek for your favourite customer,"

He laughed and start packing up her order, "Every morning Mrs Lee, and every morning I have to reject you,"

She sighed in faux drama, "I won't give up on this cat and mouse chase we have going on, you mark my words, mister,"

"I wouldn't have it any other way,"

The total never came above £10, but she would always give him £12 and tell them to keep all the change for his 'life ambition fund'. And it never failed to make him smile.

. . .

The morning rush came and left in a blur of coffee orders and crumbling pastries. It was hectic, but his dad stayed downstairs with him to help with orders whenever the store would turn into a drowning sea of grumbling office workers and impatient PTA mums. But with blue skies and a lingering warm summers breeze in the air, it was almost guaranteed to be busy.

It wasn't until he had a quiet moment in the store that he realised just how late it was getting and how little produce they had left for the day. Mingi went to the back of the bakery to check if there were any extra cookies or pastries that he could restock the display case with, when the front door chimed. "Be out in one second, have a browse and see what you'd like,” He shouted behind him while filling a tray with the last of the brownies and cookies they made that morning.

He carefully carried the tray back through the shop, humming along to the quiet music that was coming from the tv that was out on the shop floor. He paused in his tracks and stared at the new patron quizzically.

She was stood by the counter, intensely examining every single baked good that they had to offer. Her eyebrows were drawn together in a deep and contemplative look that could only come from somebody who took their baked goods very seriously. But that’s not what caught his attention. Her thick knitted sweater is what made him do a double-take.

It was a blistering summers day out and this girl was dressed for a light snow. And somehow, she looked content to be basically boiling alive.

"Busy day huh? You’ve barely got anything left," her voice had an accent to it that he didn't hear often, especially not in person, and that added to her mystery.

He pried his feet up from the tiles they seemed to be stuck to and began restocking the display cases, “Summertime madness, people come in for an iced coffee and then they stay for . . . well, everything else really.” She watched him keenly as he placed more options in front of her, “Was there something you were looking for in particular?”

She hummed in thought and glanced at the different glass display cases and seemingly counting in her head, " Yes okay, could I have uhh . . . 20 cinnamon buns and 20 cookies to go, please?"

His jaw dropped and he knew he must have looked like a complete idiot, "That's a lot of pastry, do you have a small village to feed?" He got out a box and started packing away the remaining cinnamon buns.

She laughed nervously, "Something like that. Just got a big group of friends to feed,"

"Ahh, I get that. My friends would happily demolish this entire store if I left them unattended,”

“I wouldn’t blame them, they look delicious,” He felt a smile play on his lips at her compliment, he always took pride in his work.

“Why thank you. Can I get you anything to drink today?”

Her eyes scanned the menu above his head, her mouth ever so slightly agape as she scanned for a drink that suited her.

“Umm, an iced caramel macchiato please,”

This eased his nerves a little, at least she wasn’t ordering a hot beverage in the middle of a heatwave. “Coming right up!”

They let the music from the tv fill the silence between them, and he thought he could faintly hear her humming from her side of the counter while he worked away. He wouldn’t pretend that he wasn’t stealing glances at her while he made her drink, or that he didn’t almost drop the bottle of caramel sauce when he saw her smiling softly at her phone screen. Which in turn made her look up at him at while trying not to laugh, which may or may not have made Mingi wish the floor would swallow him up whole.

He held on to his last strands of self-preservation and finished up her order, doing his best not to fumble over the cash she handed him and the change he almost dropped in return. He’d blame it on a long day of being overworked and under-rested.

“I hope you enjoy them,” he gestured to the paper bag he’d placed all the goods in.

She smiled at him, “I’m sure they’ll love them.”

He watched her leave and noticed the way she gently swung the paper bag in her hand as she exited the store. She briefly paused in the doorway, her foot hesitating to leave the store as if she saw something foreboding outside. She turned back at him, “Have a nice day,” her voice was light and airy but the smile that was etched on her face didn’t quite reach her eyes.

He saw her wave to someone before walking quickly to meet them.

And then she was gone.

. . .

Mingi couldn't help but think about her for the rest of the night as he packed up the store.

Why was she wearing such a thick sweater in the middle of summer?

How did someone from out of town happen across his little bakery, tucked away in the middle of nowhere?

His mum's voice broke his out of his stupor, “Mingi, make sure to make extra tomorrow,”

He nodded, knowing what his mum would say, “I will Ma,”

“We always take the extras to the homeless shelters on Wednesdays,”

“I know Ma,”

She ignored him like she did every week, “We haven’t missed a drop off in fifteen years,”

He mouthed along to his mum's predictable words and smiled. She headed back upstairs and told him dinner was ready.

He finished cleaning and locked up the shop.

. . .


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- warnings: lots of food mention, hinting at an abusive relationship

The next day started like every other day. Mingi came downstairs before dawn and started working on pastries, cookies and cakes for the rest of the day. That's the one thing he could always count on with this job, consistency.

Today however, Mingi’s mum decided to come downstairs to keep the two men company while they worked away. She hummed along to the music that floated through the store from their kitchen upstairs while she piped beautiful designs onto their red velvet cupcakes. Pipe work was always her specialty and whenever she would pipe flowers or bears on their cupcakes, they would sell out almost instantly.

He liked seeing her smile and sing while she helped them, it was almost like the old days when the family bakery was in full swing.

The morning was pleasant and the normal monotony of the bakery went by in a blur of yeast, vanilla, cinnamon and his parent’s playful banter. He narrowly escaped the flour fight that had broken out between the two of them, by darting out to the front of the shop with his tray of choco-chip cookies and started to line a display case with them.

He glanced at the store front and saw the mysterious girl waiting outside the door. She was wearing a floral sundress that gently swayed in the breeze and a cardigan that looked much lighter and thinner than the jumper she had been wearing the day before. She was on the phone, pacing back and forth in the doorway, with an indiscernible expression on her face. Her shoulders looked tense and she had her free arm tucked over her mid-section, drawing herself further into the comforts of her cardigan.

Mingi put the tray down on the counter and poked his head back around to the back of the bakery where his parents were laughing amongst each other and heading upstairs, a sprinkled trail of flour following them. “I’m opening up the shop early okay?” he called to them, hearing a muffled ‘okay’ back in response as the two of them were wrapped up in their own world.

He jogged over to the door and began unlocking it, making the girl jump at the sudden sound behind her.

“I’m just out in town . . . Yes, I promise I’m by myself.” Her voice was hushed and sad and she walked away from him further down the street, so he decided to leave the doors open and head over to the counter, not wanting to pry into a clearly private conversation.

He turned the tv on and switched the channel over to a documentary, feeling like it was wrong to have anything upbeat on if she was having a bad day. He picked up his tray and finished packing away the cookies, occasionally glancing up to see if she was okay.

He brought another tray of cookies out to the front at the same time as she walked into the store, “Hey stranger,” he greeted.

She waved slightly, “Hey bread boy,” her lips perked up into a smile, but he could still see the sadness in her eyes.

“What can I get for you today?”

She motioned towards the partially empty cases and his tray he was holding to fill them, “I think you’re a little too busy to be getting me anything just yet, I can wait it’s okay,” she smiled at him softly and he thanked her for her patience.

She then turned her attention to the tv where, from what he had gathered, a documentary following the lives of people living with acrophobia was playing. The crew were trying to convince one of the people to bungee jump in order to face their fears.

“What are you afraid of?” She kept her eyes trained on the tv. Her voice sounded so far away and distant even though she was but a few feet away.

Mingi dusted off his hands after placing the last cookie into the display case. He didn’t tend to think about fears and the things that go bump in the night, “I guess large open spaces of water, like the sea or big lakes.”

“You guess? That’s not very certain.”

“Well, I’m not a very strong swimmer, I can tread water at best. Titanic is basically a horror movie for me.”

She cracked a smile at his words, he felt himself smiling too, “DiCaprio is a monster, so I’ll give you that one.”

“What about you?” he asked.

“I _guess,”_ she teased, “I’m scared of hurting the people closest to me.”

He nodded solemnly, “The things that are out of our control are always scariest.”

She laughed dryly, “Tell me about it.” She refused to look at him and chose to fiddle with the sleeve of her jumper.

The timer for the oven jingled from the back of the bakery and he excused himself to go get the bread and cinnamon buns out the oven, “Oh they smell amazing,” she called from the front of the store and he smiled.

He took a cinnamon bun off the cooling rack and placed it on a plate, bringing it to her. “Here,” her eyes darted up to his as she was about to object but he nudged it towards her, “You go sit down and eat something while I finish setting everything up.”

She took the plate and smiled down at the still warm pastry, “Thank you . . . wait, what is your name?”

“Mingi, Song Mingi,” he reached out his hand.

She smiled and shook it, “I’m Y/n, it’s nice to meet you Song Mingi.”

. . .

The normal customers came and went but Y/n stayed. She had her big box of cinnamon buns and some of Mingi’s mum’s teddy bear cupcakes next to her on the chair, but she remained sat in the café, slowly sipping on her peach iced tea and dotting away in an old beat up notebook. This was the longest she had spent around him, and it felt nice to have a friend to talk to in the store when it got quiet.

“Mingi!” His mother called from the back.

He put down his broom and looked over to Y/n, “Watch the store, I’ll be right back.”

He jogged upstairs and into the lounge where his mum was, “Start packing up the pastries for the shelter please. And throw in some loaves of bread if we have any left please.”

“Okay Ma.”

He headed back downstairs to see a panicked Y/n pacing by the counter, “You can’t just tell someone to watch your store!” He started laughing, “Not funny Mingi! What if I had to serve a customer, or if there was a fire?” She was beginning to laugh too now.

“My bad, you wanna help me pack up some food for our homeless shelter delivery?”

He brought out large carboard boxes from behind the counter, “You donate food to a homeless shelter?” He motioned her around the counter.

“Yeah, once a week. Around the holidays we give to other shelters too, my mum makes care packages for people sleeping rough too, it’s the least we can do.”

Y/n had a soft smile on her face, “You’re really kind, you know that?”

He dodged her compliment, “You can come with us if you’d like? It’s about a ten-minute drive from here, we leave around 7 ish.”

Her smile faltered before she took a deep and calming breath, “You know what? That sounds lovely.”

Mingi smiled and slid over a tray of bread rolls to her, “Well, get packing then.”

“Be nice, bread boy.”

. . .

Mingi’s mum loaded the last of the boxes into the back of the pickup truck while his dad locked up the store.

“Where is your friend?” his mum asked.

He shrugged, feeling a pang of disappointment in his stomach, “Maybe she was busy, you two can go ahead, I don’t mind walking if she doesn’t show up.”

“Nonsense, we’ll wait-”

The sound of jogging footsteps cut her off, “Hey! Sorry I had a thing I had to attend,” she was out of breath and had small droplets sweat clinging to her forehead.

Mingi laughed, “Did you just run a marathon or something?” he teased.

His mum slapped his arm, “Thank you for volunteering to help us dear, it’s very sweet of you.”

She panted and nodded, “You’re welcome. My car is back there if you need to load anything into it.”

“We managed to fit everything in the truck but,” she turned to look at Mingi, “If you’d like, you can take this lump with you.”

She smiled and nodded, “I think I’ll have room for him, might be a tight squeeze though,” his mum laughed and started to get into the car.

“We’ll meet you there,” Mingi called to his parents before walking with Y/n back down the street.

“Your mum seems lovely,” she smiled widely.

He laughed, “You only think she’s lovely cause you can make fun of me with her.”

He nodded, “Exactly so.”

He nudged her arm with his elbow lightly, but she winced and held it, “Shit I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“No it’s fine, I just have a bruise there,” she rubbed her arm lightly.

“I’m sorry again.”

She smiled and waved him off, “No harm, no foul. It’s not your fault I’m bruised, so don’t stress about it,” she nudged him back playfully.

He rubbed his arm, “Pointy elbows much, damn you could do some damage with those things,” he joked, earning himself another shove.

She pulled out her keys from her dress pocket and clicked the unlock button on the fob. He watched as the headlights to a sleek black Tesla blinked back at him and he gasped, “THAT’S YOUR CAR?” He jogged over to it and slid his hands over the shiny black bonnet.

She caught up to him, “Yeah. My dad’s idea of a graduation present.”

He could almost feel his jaw drop, “This was a gift?”

She kicked an invisible stone on the curb, “Rich family, let’s not bring it up.”

He had never had the impression that she was spoilt or rich until that moment, “Only if I get one of these for my birthday.”

She looked up at him and saw that he was smiling and she laughed lightly, “Get in the car you dork.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

. . .

They worked in tandem, Y/n ladled hot tomato soup out into people’s bowls and he gave them rolls and pats of butter to accompany them.

“Hello there, sir!” She had been greeting everyone that came by, some people would just grunt in response, but more often than not she managed to spark a smile in response.

“Ello young lass,” the stout old man smiled back at her, he turned to look at Mingi, “Aye, ye be a tall un, don’tcha?”

Mingi and Y/n both laughed in response, “It’s my mum’s secret bread recipe, it made me big and strong.”

“I need me some of that then,” Mingi laughed and put two rolls on the man’s tray before letting him continue on his way, waving off the thanks he was given.

He looked over to Y/n who was smiling at the two of them brightly, “You’re a real nice guy you know.”

He winced in fake hurt, “Don’t hit me with the nice guy card, I’ll be forced to go buy a fedora.”

She laughed, “If you refer to me as _m’lady_ I’ll never come back to your bakery again.”

“Lies, you couldn’t stay away from me.”

She pondered for a moment, “You’re right, I’m addicted to the buns.”

Mingi quirked a brow, “The buns aye,” he turned his back to her and started to throw it back, “These sweet buns?”

“MINGI _NO_ ,” she was laughing and tried to turn him back around, much to her relief he relented and stopped.

“Sigh, all the ladies go crazy for my buns,” he flipped his imaginary long hair off his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes playfully at him, “Oh like who, Mrs Lee?”

“Hey, my buns don’t discriminate, she was probably a fine young lady in her day.” She laughed at his words before getting ready to serve the next person.

The older woman smiled at her, “He’s a piece of work huh?” she commented, after seeing their previous interaction.

Y/n smiled, “You wouldn’t believe.”

The lady nodded, “They’re always the best ones though, I never had a dull moment around my wife. You should keep him close.” She nodded her head over to Mingi.

“Oh, we’re not,” Y/n gestured between the two in question, “I’ve got a boyfriend – one who’s not Mingi.”

The lady just smiled at the two of them, Mingi handed her a roll, “I only learnt her name this morning.”

“Close doesn’t mean dating my dears,” she winked at them before walking off to an almost full table.

There was a beat of awkwardness between the two of them while they processed what just happened. Her words finally caught up to Mingi, “So, you’ve got a boyfriend?”

She nodded, not looking up to him and focussing on stirring the soup, “Yeah, his dad knows my dad. It’s more of a business arrangement than a relationship, but that’s life I guess.”

Mingi furrowed his brow, “That’s not how love works though. Love is supposed to make you screwy. You want to spend time with them, do things for them, you care about them and you . . . well you love them.”

“Who said I loved him.” Her voice was so small and quiet and Mingi felt his heart pang ever so slightly in response, like a hairline fracture of heartbreak.

Y/n’s phone broke the now settling silence between them and she swiftly answered it, “Woo, no I’m fine I just-,” she quickly walked away. Mingi watched as her shoulders became tense again and she drew into herself. She looked uncomfortable and stressed and she hadn’t even been talking to the person on the phone for a minute.

She covered the receiver and walked back over to him, “Tell your parents that I said thank you for tonight, but I really have to go, I’m sorry,” She whispered before she briskly walked out of the door, leaving Mingi no time process what had transpired in the last ten minutes, and wondering when he would see her again.

. . .


	3. chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: lots of food mention, hinting at an abusive relationship
> 
> a/n: after a short mental health break i have returned!!! enjoy this little break from reality, comments and feedback are always welcomed!!

"It’s been two weeks since she even stopped by Joong,” Mingi spoke down the receiver while pacing around the back of the store.

_‘Message her then. Add her on Facebook or something,’_

Mingi sighed, “That’s the issue, I only know her first name and I was stupid and never asked for her number,”

Mingi winced, and pulled the phone back from his ear and as a loud screeching sound emitted from Hongjoong’s side, _‘Sorry Mingi, prototype didn’t work. Can I call you back tomorrow?’_

“It’s a bank holiday so I’m busy with family stuff. We’re heading down to the beach, you should join us,”

Hongjoong sounded muffled as he shouted to someone in the distance, _‘If I don’t get this project finished I can kiss London good-bye. As soon as it’s done we’ll do something okay?’_

The line went dead before Mingi could reply, which should have bothered him more than it did but Mingi understood how busy Hongjoong was.

“Girl problems?” A familiar voice called from out front.

Mingi scrambled to put on his apron and ran to the front of the store, “Sorry Mrs Lee, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,”

She smiled at him kindly, “That’s fine dear, my usual please.”

Mingi got to work packing away her goods, “You’re here later than normal?”

She tapped her hip, “This old thing had an appointment at the hospital, needs to be replaced next month.”

Mingi snuck some extra apple turnovers into her order, “I’m sorry to here that ma’am, is there anything I can do to help? Bringing you groceries or anything?”

“I’ll let you know if I need any help, but you sound like you have enough women on your plate as is,” she winked at him, “Tell me about this girl.”

“There’s not much to tell, I don’t know very much about her. She comes by occasionally and talks to me,”

Mrs Lee hummed, “Was she the girl your mother was telling me about? She went to the soup kitchens with you?”

Mingi nodded, ignoring the slipped information about his mum gossiping about him.

“Well, she surely must like you. It’s not every day you see a girl going out of her way to be around a man she just met if she didn’t at the very least like him.”

Her words rang through Mingi’s conscious mind all day, until the very moment his head hit his pillow that night where he asked himself, _‘why do you care about this girl so much?’._

. . .

The car ride to the beach had been cramped and sweaty, the aircon had been spotty at best (and downright awful for the rest of the time). Mingi had never been happier to feel the sand under his sandals, even enjoying the way it spilled onto the tops of his toes as they trudged down the far too full beach to try find a big enough spot for all their stuff.

Mingi’s parents had insisted on having a barbeque on the beach and packed enough food to feed a small army. And Mrs Song needed to have her deck chair, which Mingi was carrying clumsily along the sand.

When they found a spot they were all happy with they began setting up for the day. Mingi placed down their towels along the sand, weighing them down with shoes and the book his mother had packed to read (which he knew she wasn’t actually going to read) while his father got the fire rumbling in their portable barbeque.

“Mingi I left the sunblock in the truck, could you run back and grab it for me please?” his mother called to him, just as he sat down on his towel to relax.

He mumbled to himself in frustration, but got up to go get it regardless.

On his way back he saw a woman sat in the shade of the sand dunes. She was wearing a black short wetsuit and a long coverup. Her face was almost completely covered by her sunglasses and she laughed at something that was in her book. He would recognise that laugh anywhere.

“Y/n?” He stopped in his tracks.

“Mingi oh my God, hi!” She waved him over.

Against his better judgement, he walked towards her, “What’re you doing at the beach?”

She smirked at him, “I could ask you the same thing, thought you were scared of places like this?”

“I’m more scared of turning down family plans and being scalded by my mum,” he gestured over to where his parents were sat, a short walk away.

She peered over to where he pointed, “Oh a barbeque! Would you like some company?”

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “I didn’t think you wanted to hang out anymore.”

She smiled at him, but it didn’t look quite right. She closed her book, stood up and dusted her legs off, walking towards him, “We can hang out now.” She turned back to the dune, “Jooheon!” She called into the empty space.

A man appeared, wearing dark sunglasses and a well-tailored suit which looked incredibly out of place at a beach, “Yes ma’am?”

“If you need me I’ll be with this man’s family over there,” she pointed over to Mingi’s family, “They’ve invited me to eat with them.”

The man nodded, “Be careful ma’am.” And he walked back down the dune as quickly as he came.

Y/n turned back to him and smiled, “Well, lead the way,”

Mingi pointed to the dune, “You’ve got your own personal bodyguard?”

She laughed nervously, “Something along those lines.” She wrapped her coverup around her further and began walking, not waiting for Mingi anymore.

Mingi furrowed his brow, “Why would you need a bodyguard?”

Y/n hesitated for a moment, “My boyfriend likes to make sure I’m . . . safe. Jooheon’s not with me 24/7 either, just when I’ll be out of town or away from the house for too long.”

Nothing about this situation sat right with Mingi, “And you’re okay with this?”

She shrugged, “It keeps him happy, and it stops me from getting hurt so . . .” Her voice trailed off and Mingi decided it wasn’t his place to push further.

“Oh, hello dear!” Mrs Song got up from her deck chair and gave Y/n a hug, “How have you been?”

Y/n smiled at her, “Fine thank you, and you?”

The two women got to chatting like they were old friends while Mingi and his dad started prepping their lunch. From the corner of Mingi’s eye he could occasionally see a flash of black from on top of the sand dunes and it made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Two men jogged over to where Mingi was lounging next to Y/n and his mum, “Hey sorry to bother you,” The taller of the two spoke, the other held a pink beach ball. “Would you guys want to come play some volleyball with us? We realised it’s really boring with just two people.”

Mingi glanced back to Y/n who was already smiling brightly, “I’m in!” She started to get up.

Mingi smiled, “Count me in too.” The shorter guy offered him a hand up from his towel and Mingi took it.

“I’m Jongho by the way, and this is my brother San,” He shook the hand of the taller guy as well.

“Mingi, and this is-”

“Y/n, nice to meet you both,” she interrupted him, giving both men a wave.

San and Jongho walked ahead to the volleyball net while Mingi grabbed the two of them some water bottles from the cooler.

Mingi gave Y/n a once over, “Are you going to be able to play while wearing that?”

Y/n hesitated for a minute before turning around and taking off her coverup and sunglasses, leaving them on the towel. “Let’s go then,” She started walking without turning back around and Mingi knew she was hiding something.

He jogged to catch up with her, that’s when he saw it, “How the hell did you get a black eye?”

“Tennis, a ball hit me in the eye while I was practising.” Her voice had an edge to it that made him sure she was lying.

“If anything was wrong you know you could tell me right? I wouldn’t judge you.”

Y/n looked him in the eyes, her eyes were filled with sadness and unspoken fears, “But I can’t. So nothing’s wrong.” She walked quickly over to the two boys and Mingi dropped the subject.

San and Jongho paired into one team and Y/n and Mingi in another. San served first and Mingi soon exposed how clumsy and competitive he was. Y/n moved in tandem with him, the two following and flittering around each other, they worked together like a well-oiled machine. Mingi would pass the ball to Y/n to spike it, or Y/n would dive and save the ball from hitting the sand before Mingi could even react. The two teams were laughing and cheering each other on regardless of who was winning.

“Okay, we’re switching,” Jongho panted out and pointed to Y/n, “I want you on my team, San has spiked the ball into my head one time too many.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“Hey, not my fault your big head is always in the way!” San threw the ball at the back of Jongho’s head, before sprinting into the sea before his brother could catch him.

Mingi watched as Y/n laughed at the two siblings and then he had an idea. He acted before he over thought it too much and he picked Y/n up and hauled her over his shoulder.

She screamed and laughed as he ran with her into the water, thumping on his back for him to put her down. And so he did, straight into the cold seawater.

The water was up only up to his knees so she wasn’t in any danger of drowning. She splashed water at him from where she was sat in the waves and he laughed at her pout.

Before he realised what she was doing she grabbed his legs from under him and he fell backwards into the water. The two laughed and splashed each other in the shallow water.

“Is the water too deep for you?” Mingi shook his head in response. She reached out her hand for him to take, “Come on, let’s face your fear a little bit,”

Mingi hesitated but she looked so happy that he could help but relent. He held her hand, making a mental note of how soft and small it felt in his, and let her drag him out further to sea.

He felt his heartbeat pick up a little when the water was up to his waist, “Easy does it, we’ll stop when you can float but can still touch the bottom okay?” 

“But sharks could swim in that depth of water,”

She smiled and shook her head, “I’ll punch it in the nose for you if we see one.”

It was only a couple more steps but soon he was floating more easily in the water. She was swimming next to him, not letting go of his hand.

“Now turn around and look at the shore.”

He scanned the horizon for dorsal fins before turning around. Y/n swam behind him, using his shoulders for support, Mingi felt his heart jump. “You see those cliffs?” She pointed a few miles away at some step black cliffs that had trees on top of them.

“They look like something out of Scooby Doo,”

She laughed, the sound sounded much sweeter when she was close to him. “They were the site of many shipwrecks back when this town had a port,” she sounded proud of her historical knowledge.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, they had to build a lighthouse along our side of the coast to help people get to port safely.” She pointed at the top of the lighthouse that was peaking out behind another cliff. “The cliffs are so dark that supposedly they would blend into the night sky and the ships would only notice them when it was too late.”

Mingi realised he didn’t know his sleepy town as well as he previously thought. “I wonder if there’s sunken treasure down there.”

“I’ll ask my dad to bring our boat down and we can go investigate,”

Mingi turned to look at her, stepping back when he realised how close they were. “You have a boat?”

She shrugged, “He acquired it. We used to take it down to our lake house during summer vacation, but we haven’t done that in years.”

“Well, searching for pirate treasure is a far better use for it anyways.” She smiled at him, and despite the slight swelling in her eye they finally had a twinkle in them.

Y/n looked beyond him and rolled her eyes, “Come on, I’m about to be dragged home,” she mumbled before taking his hand and helping him back to the shore. It wasn’t like Mingi couldn’t manage the walk back, but he wasn’t about to object. He soon felt the cold sea intertwine with his fingers in place of her.

Y/n’s face got serious when she reached the shore. “Jooheon I’m fine, seriously go back to the car.”

The man shook his head, “Boss isn’t happy with you hanging out with this man, he wants you home.”

She nodded, “Let me collect my things.” Her voice sounded cold and distant.

She went to walk by him but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “They’re in the car waiting for you.”

She didn’t turn back to say goodbye. He watched her walk away while the sea lapped at his legs.

. . .


	4. chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: alcohol mention

Mingi woke up to the sound of his father’s voice outside his door, “Mingi,” he knocked and waited for Mingi to open the door.

Mingi rolled out of the bed, feeling clammy all over and exhausted from an uncomfortably warm night’s sleep. He stumbled over discarded items of clothing and junk in his room before managing to get to the door, luckily in one piece.

“Good, you’re up. The delivery company called, there’s understaffing today and they asked if we could go pick up our order instead of them dropping it off later in the week.”

Mingi rubbed his eyes and yawned while nodding, “You want me to take the truck and go get it?”

“If you could. You don’t have to pick it up just yet, as long as it’s before 6pm it’s fine.”

Mingi nodded sleepily and closed his door. He flopped back onto his bed and groaned into the covers; today was going to be an incredibly busy day.

Mingi shuffled up his bed and reached over to his nightstand and retrieved his phone. He noticed a message from Hongjoong that had come in at around 1am, when Mingi was undoubtedly fast asleep.

_Hongjoong_

_Yo guess who got a huge bonus??? Stopping by in the morning, see you bright and early bby_

He groaned again, knowing that Hongjoong would be around before the shop even opened. Despite going to sleep so late Hongjoong always had a knack for function on little to no sleep.

He pulled himself out of bed and sifted through his drawers for the first items that resembled socially acceptable pieces of clothing and dragged himself to the shower.

. . .

Mingi took the trays of bread out and placed them on the cooling racks.

“What coffee do you want?” Hongjoong called to him from the front of the store.

Mingi dusted off his hands and poked his head around the corner, “Caramel latte, extra cold milk, to go please.”

Hongjoong sighed jokingly, “Why do you have to be so complicated; can’t you just have a black coffee?” Mingi shook his head in response before heading back to the ovens.

Mingi loaded up the next baking trays on the oven shelves before setting the timer and heading upstairs.

“Mum tell dad the last batch of bread is in the oven please, we’re heading to get the delivery now.”

“Oh Mingi,” she stopped him, handing him two tinfoil wrapped squares, “Neither of you have had breakfast yet.”

He grabbed the still warm parcels, “Thanks Ma.”

He grabbed his jacket from the hook and headed downstairs to Hongjoong, exchanging his share of breakfast for a perfectly hot coffee, “You really should have kept your job here,” Mingi took a sip of the sweet drink, “Your coffees are always so good.”

Hongjoong smiled, “Yeah but your customers wouldn’t be able to control themselves around me if I did, Mrs. Lee would always pinch my cheeks so hard.” He rubbed his cheek as if it still hurt him now.

Mingi rolled his eyes and motioned to the front door, “Let’s roll, _Casanova_.”

They headed towards the truck, Mingi having already inhaled half of his bacon sandwich while Hongjoong was taking small and thoughtful bites of his. “So, tell me more about this mystery girl I’ve been hearing snippets about.”

Mingi almost choked on a rogue chunk of bread at the sudden question, “What about her?” his voice was hoarse and dry.

The two slipped into the front of the truck and Hongjoong continued to interrogate him. “Well, what’s she look like? What’s she into? Do you think she’ll be around today?”

Mingi took a long and delaying sip of his coffee, “I haven’t seen her since the beach, and she hasn’t been around in over a week so I doubt it.” Mingi sighed, “I think I over stepped some boundaries.”

Hongjoong furrowed his brow, “How so?”

“She’s got a boyfriend.”

“ _Yikes!”_ Hongjoong made a face, the kind that you make when you get second-hand embarrassment or when you cringe too hard from an awkward memory. “Trust you to fall for a taken girl.”

Mingi handed his food to Hongjoong after the two of them were buckled in, “I haven’t fallen for her, I don’t even know shit about her. I just think she’s pretty, well more like beautiful. And she’s intriguing.”

Hongjoong spoke around a mouthful of his ham and cheese toastie, “How so?”

The truck roared to life and lurched forwards as they began moving, “She’s like mega rich but doesn’t act like it. She knows stuff about things that most people don’t.”

“Wow, how descriptive of you,” Hongjoong teased Mingi’s lack of vocabulary.

Mingi rolled his eyes, “She was telling me about sunken ships of the coast and I don’t know, it was just like . . . like a scene from a movie, that’s the only I can describe it.”

“Then how do you know you don’t stand a chance? I’m not saying to become a homewrecker, just be her friend and see where things go.”

Mingi stopped at a red light and sighed, “She’s always on the phone to who I’m guessing is the boyfriend, ‘Woo’, and she always sounds so . . . off when they talk, like all the happiness is suddenly sucked out of her.”

“A dementor for a boyfriend, how unfortunate.”

“No like seriously Joong, she turns into a completely different person when she talks to him or brings him up. And then there was this black eye thing, and her bodyguard . . . I don’t know, maybe I’m looking into it all too much.”

He shook his head, “Trust your gut man, if you’ve got a bad feeling it’s clearly for a reason. She sounds like she needs normality in her life, and that could be you. But don’t let her use you, you’re better than that.”

Mingi sighed, “You’re right, I know you’re right.”

“I always am. Annnd that’s why I’m taking you out tonight.” Mingi was about to object and say that he needed to work the next day but Hongjoong held up a hand silencing him, “Nope, I don’t want to hear it. You barely ever take a day off, and you need it, you’re turning into Agatha Christie from being cooped up for too long.”

Mingi laughed, “Fine, I’ll check with dad if it’s okay when I get back. But drinks are on you.”

“That’s what the bonus is for,” he winked before taking a bite of the wrong sandwich, “ _Yuck,_ I don’t get how you can put tomato sauce on perfectly crispy bacon, disgusting.”

. . .

The bar was dimly lit with a warm yellow light. People were packed in like sardines, courtesy of a football quiz night, and the bar staff looked like they were on the verge of a breakdown, or at least screaming a long line of profanities at the next person who gave them attitude. 

Hongjoong led them through the crowds of people. Mingi used his red hair as a beacon, surprised that it still managed to glow like hot embers even under the poor excuse for lights.

“Over here!” A man with fluffy blonde hair waved them over to his table. Hongjoong waved back and headed over to the table. “Hongjoong man, glad you could make it.” The guy gave him a bro hug and clapped him on the back.

“Of course,” Hongjoong turned to face Mingi, “Mingi, this is Jae. Jae, Mingi.” He gestured between the two taller men.

Jae smiled and pulled Mingi into an equally as enthusiastic bro hug; Mingi noted the smell of sweet alcohol on him. “Nice to finally meet you dude, Hongjoong talks you up a lot.”

“He’s practically obsessed with me,” Hongjoong teased his best friend, shoving him slightly.

“If you guys are quite finished, I’d like another round of drinks.” The three men turned back to the table and at the source of the words. The girl who was sat there didn’t look like anyone Hongjoong would be friends with, let alone _close_ friends with. She actually looked cool. She had fiery red curly hair, tattoos adorned along her brown skin, a nose ring, and jet-black lipstick. _Definitely_ too cool for Hongjoong.

Hongjoong rolled his eyes and sat on one of the free seats across from her. “Mingi, this is Beth. She’s all bark no bite, don’t worry.” Beth stuck her tongue out at him and he did the same in return.

Mingi sat on the aisle seat opposite her and Jae took his seat back, returning to sip on a bright blue cocktail. Beth gestured to the drinks menu, “What do you two want? First drinks are on me tonight.”

Hongjoong slid the menu in between the two of them and they began reading over the options.

“I’d recommend the Blue Lagoon, it tastes like fruity lemonade,” Jae pointed at his glass.

Mingi nodded in agreement with Hongjoong, “Sounds good to me.”

“Okay cool, I’ll go get two Blue Lagoon pitchers then.” Beth stood up by the table, pausing to check for her ID in her purse. Mingi tried to pry his eyes away from her body, but his gaze settled on her fishnet stocking cladded legs for just a little too long.

Beth snorted, “Oh, poor baby boy.” Mingi looked up at her with wide eyes, about to apologise when she shook her head smiling at him, “You’re pitching for the wrong team there sweetie.”

Hongjoong smiled at him gently, a smile Mingi knew meant that he wasn’t quite up to speed with things. Mingi looked confusedly and Jae, who finally enlightened him, “Beth gets more girls than all three of us combined, she’s hella gay my dude.”

Beth smirked, “I mean, you’re not wrong.” She walked over to the bar, disappearing in the crowd.

Mingi felt his cheeks burning red and he found himself grateful for the awful lighting.

Jae spared him from embarrassing teasing, “So I was on Reddit last night.”

Hongjoong groaned, “God no more conspiracy theories please. I’m still stuck on how Beyoncé is the head of the Illuminati.”

Jae held up a finger, “Firstly, she’s not the _head_ of the Illuminati, that would be ridiculous. And secondly, I wasn’t looking at conspiracies for once.” He took a long sip from his straw while pulling out his phone.

He called up a thread titled ‘Current Red Notices by Interpol’ and put the phone on the table between them all. “It’s basically a ‘wanted dead or alive’ list, like in old western movies. I was scrolling for hours on end trying to see if I recognised anyone.”

Hongjoong scrolled through the pictures, “This is actually pretty interesting Jae,” he paused over the profile of a man who was on the run for murdering his children, and he screwed up his face. “Interesting in a morbid curiosity sort of way.” He pushed the phone away in disgust, and over to Mingi.

Mingi scrolled down the thread, not absorbing anything in particular while his mind wondered around. His thoughts took him away from the conversation at the table, slowly seeping down into his subconscious, seeking out a topic he didn’t want to settle on.

Y/n.

He felt the repressed emotions bubble up to the forefront of his mind. He thought about the last time he saw her, how bruised and battered her face was, how dejected and drawn in she looked as she left. He felt his chest tighten, anxiety grabbing a hold of his lungs. He knew what was happening - how she was being treated like a ragdoll, she had all the signs, but how was he supposed to help her?

His mind reeled with scenarios of confronting her, with saving her, making her feel safe and loved. But he knew they weren’t realistic. He knew this problem was bigger than hot chocolates, warm smiles and ‘everything will be okay’s.

Hongjoong nudged his shoulder, “You okay buddy?”

Mingi shook his head, dispelling the thoughts from his mind, “Just thinking about some stuff.” He slid the phone across the table and back to Jae.

“No more thinking about her for tonight, come on it’s your night off from work and stress.” Hongjoong patted his back reassuringly.

“You’re right,” Mingi sighed.

Hongjoong smiled, “I always am.”

. . .

The mismatched looking group sat in their little section of the world and chatted like old pals, despite their recent meetings. They exchanged funny anecdotes about tinder mishaps (mostly on Jae’s behalf) and sugardaddy encounters, sweet alcohol fuelling their confessions.

“But you’re _gay_ Beth, why would you message wrinkly old dust bags?” Jae fumbled over his words ever so slightly.

She shrugged, flashing a devilish smile, “Gotta have a side hustle somewhere. Mine just happens to be swindling pruney white men.”

Hongjoong raised up his hand, “May I suggest spending some more pruney white man money tonight?”

Beth took a sip of her drink, “Go on Berry Boy.”

He poked his tongue at her again before continuing, “There’s a club a couple blocks over from here we could inspect?” There was a resounding hum of agreement from the table.

Jae abruptly stood up, thumping his hands on the table. “But first,” he looked longingly at the bar, “Shots.”

Jae and Hongjoong were stumbling out of the bar by the time they had downed their second tequila shots (both idiots had insisted that one wasn’t nearly enough). Beth and Mingi walked a little behind them, making sure to keep them off the road and out of the way of other late-night partiers.

The two more sober friends watch their idiotic counterparts as they talked loud and animatedly with their arms slung around each other.

“They need some food in them,” Beth looked at them with a mixture of curiosity and concern on her face.

“There’s a MacDonald’s like two minutes from here, I’ll run in and get them food if you babysit?”

She stifled a laugh as Jae tripped over his own feet, Hongjoong barely catching him, “Deal. There’s a park nearby too, we’ll skip the club and head there to sit and eat.”

“Oooh, but a group of kids in a park after dark need some alcohol and music, or we won’t really be delinquents.”

Beth nodded solemnly. “Damn you’re right,” she joked along with him, “How about we split up: you take Cotton Tail to grab food, I’ll take the Berry Bitch to get the booze and we reconfigure at the park to become true night time hooligans.”

Mingi smiled, he was really starting to like this girl. “That’s one hell of a deal.”

. . .

And that’s how Song Mingi ended up laying down on mildew covered grass at 2am, surrounded by friends, chicken nuggets, and the angsty teen rock vibes provided by the _Fall Out Boy_ that blasted from Beth’s phone. The sound of Jae and Beth bickering over what music _truly_ counted as emo was distant to him as his mind swarmed and swirled, no thanks to the high percentage of alcohol in his bloodstream. He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed Hongjoong lay down next to him.

The red head finally broke their amicable silence, “I’ve missed this.”

Mingi didn’t have to question him, he knew exactly what his friend meant. “God, same here. I didn’t even realise how fast we all grew up.”

Hongjoong smiled sadly, “I haven’t even seen Yonghwan or Hwanwoong since we all graduated.”

“It’s not fair, none of us asked to grow up.” Mingi sighed, silently cursing the wide and vast universe for making his youth feel like a distant memory. “I wish I could relive some of those nights.”

There was a silence between the two of them as they both mourned the loss of their teenage years.

Hongjoong snorted abruptly, “Remember when Yunho fractured his fucking leg kayaking at the beach and we had to carry him to shore?”

Mingi started laughing too, “Who capsizes their kayak in shallow water? I almost drowned trying to bring him to shore, the big baby was floating AWAY from the beach.”

Hongjoong slapped his arm as he recalled another memory, “And when Lucas tried to jump that electric fence in Freshers Week ‘cause he wanted to pet those sheep.”

Mingi wheezed out a laugh, “Oh my God!” Mingi sat up and pointed to Hongjoong, “You offered him _PEAS_ FOR HIS BURN,” He clapped his hands and laughed at his friend.

“I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO OKAY,” Hongjoong sat up and failed to push Mingi over.

Mingi grabbed the bottle of vodka and one of the cheap shot cups Beth had bought, handing them out to everyone, much to Jae and Beth’s confusion. Mingi began pouring them each a shot, “This is to all of our friends who we loved and miss.” He accidentally spilled some onto Beth’s boots and he quickly went to fill up Jae’s before she could scold him. “May we make equally as memorable memories with new,” he nodded to Jae, “and exciting,” he nodded to Beth, “people.”

They all clinked their cups together in a loud chorus of “CHEERS!”, most of the volume coming from a definitely drunk Jae.

Mingi soon found himself back on the dewy grass, almost enjoying the feeling of cold earth beneath him. As he looked up at the stars he felt an ache in his cheeks, and wondered to himself when he had last been so happy that his face hurt from smiling.

. . .


	5. chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- warnings: mild description of an anxiety attack, man handling general uncomfortable possessive behaviors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: important reminder: Wooyoung is a lovely boy and this doesn’t reflect him at all!! please don’t allow this fic to change your idea on him, he’s a soft lovely boy!! 
> 
> sorry for disappearing for a long while, i've been feeling really sick and down in the dumps and i needed to take some time away for myself, i hope you all understand!! only four chapters left, feedback is always welcomed, love you all lots and lots, hope you enjoy!!

. . .

Mingi awoke to a loud clattering from somewhere within Hongjoong’s apartment and he winced at the sound, burying himself further under the throw blanket that he vaguely remembered stealing from Hongjoong.

“Be quiet,” He mumbled to no one in particular.

“You be quiet,” A sleepy voice mumbled back at him.

Mingi peeled back the covers and saw that Jae was sleeping on the floor next to him on a far too small futon with a far too big blanket. The memory of a botched game of rock, paper, scissors came back to Mingi and made him giggle.

Jae peaked his head up at him, his blonde hair was poking in every direction possible, and somehow even ones that weren’t, “What’s funny?”

“You really tried to fight me that rock should beat paper last night,”

Jae laughed too and flopped back on the futon, “It should,” he tried to exclaim but his voice was too hoarse.

Mingi lightly shook his head and began searching for his phone. He saw it on the coffee table on charge and reached over slowly to grab it, trying not to disturb his already aching body. “Throw me my glasses please?” Jae asked.

Mingi threw him the glasses before checking his phone.

He felt his stomach lurch.

_8 missed calls from mom_

_5 missed calls from home_

_3 unopened messages from dad_

His anxiety pulled at his stomach, twisting and churning its cold hands further into him. He felt himself heave.

“Woah woah woah, Hongjoong!” Jae called while quickly getting up and sitting next to Mingi, a plastic bowl placed in his lap and a hand rubbing on his back soothingly, “Deep breaths man.”

Mingi could feel his whole body shaking, he felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.

He opened the messages first.

_There’s been a break in Mingi, call us as soon as you get this._

_Delivered 03:14 am_

Mingi felt his blood run cold and he heaved again.

_Your mother is shaken up, please call her to let her know you’re safe._

_Delivered 03:38 am_

Mingi registered Hongjoong’s voice but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the phone.

_The police are here, please call us Mingi._

_Delivered 04:06 am_

Mingi slowly managed to pull himself to a somewhat conscious state. “Grab his jacket, take my keys and go pull my car around front,” Hongjoong’s voice still felt distant to him, but the warmth of Jae’s hand left along with his presence beside him.

Hongjoong squatted in front of Mingi, “Hey buddy, they’re fine okay we’re going there right now. Let’s go get your shoes,”

Mingi felt frozen. “I shouldn’t have left,” his voice was barely above a whisper.

“You can’t live your life for your parents Mingi, you’re allowed days off to be your own person,”

Mingi shook his head, finally looking at his dishevelled friend, “They needed me. I wasn’t there and they needed me,” he felt tears welling in his eyes, “I failed them Joong.”

Hongjoong wrapped him in a hug, “You’ve always put them first. You of all people could never fail your parents Mingi, come on let’s go be there for them now.”

Mingi sniffled into the older man’s neck and nodded, “Will they be mad?”

Hongjoong realised just how young they all still were with that one broken sentence, “They could never be mad at you Mingi.”

They arrived at the bakery in record time, and Hongjoong was almost certain they had broken multiple laws to get there so quick.

Mingi paused in front of the broken glass that was scattered over the pavement, his heart in his throat.

He took a cautious step forwards, hearing the glass crunching under his feet in response. The sound crawled up his spine and he winced at the implications it held. He closed his eyes and took a shaky but calming breath and pressed on.

One of the display cases was cracked. The till was crashed onto the floor, dented and empty. The chairs were knocked to the ground, one of them was splintered apart. Their tv was gone.

It looked like hell had ridden through his small slice of normality.

“Mum? Dad?” He called into the echoing store. He heard rushed footsteps from above him and his eyes followed the sound as they descended the stairs and came into view.

“Mingi, dear god we were so worried,” His mum enveloped him into a tight hug. He hugged her back, rubbing her back reassuringly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t turn the notifications on, I should have been here.” He let the grief that was settled in his chest speak.

Crunching footsteps broke their moment apart. “Oh my god!” The company turned to face the sound, Mingi felt his stomach turn at the familiar voice. “What happened here?” Y/n asked, concern etched onto her face.

Mingi’s mum clarified, “We were robbed last night, dear.”

Y/n walked cautiously into the store and over to Mingi’s mother, placing a reassuring hand on the older lady’s back. “Were you guys all okay?”

Mingi’s mum nodded, “Luckily they took what they wanted and left, they never came upstairs to bother us.” Mingi felt guilt floating through his bloodstream, making him feel cold.

“We’ll get this sorted out, you two can go get some rest and have some tea. I’ll handle this mess,” Mingi patted his dad on the back reassuringly, the older of the two looked exhausted.

Y/n hesitated for a second, “I might. . . be able to help, let me just go make a couple calls.” She left the building before anyone could question her.

“Well, I’m always happy to help you guys out, what do you need done?” Hongjoong spoke up, smiling softly at Mrs Song.

“I’ve got nothing planned today, count me in. Oh, and I’m Jae by the way,” Jae beamed. Mingi only now realised that the blonde man had yet to take a brush to his unruly hair and he still looked like an electrocuted chicken.

Mingi’s mother smiled at them, “You boys are very sweet, a clean-up team would be much appreciated. Dear, go get the boys some cleaning supplies, I’ll go make us all some food.” She tapped her husband on the back before heading back upstairs.

Mingi and Jae were cleaning up the glass while Hongjoong dealt with the tornado of mess that was on the shop floor.

Y/n walked back into sight, “Okay, help is on the way,”

Mingi stopped sweeping and looked at her quizzically, “What do you mean?”

She motioned to the window panes, “I know a guy who’s good with clean up jobs. I put in a favour and he’ll be down to measure and fit you some new windows soon.”

Mingi felt his eyes bulge, “You really didn’t need to do that. I don’t even know if we have the money for that right now-”

She waved her hand, “It was a free favour, he owed me. Don’t worry about paying me back.”

He shook his head, “We can’t just accept that, let me do something in return.”

She smiled at him. It was soft and warm and comforting all in one. He didn’t realise how much he had missed her, and he chose to ignore the way his heart stuttered in response. “We’re friends Mingi, we’ll just say you owe me one. Besides, if you guys are out of commission for too long I’ll begin getting withdrawals from your pastries.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, leaning casually on the handle of the broom, “You haven’t been here in weeks missy, I don’t think you can talk about withdrawals,”

She fidgeted with the hem of her cardigan for a second, her hand subconsciously touching her cheek, which made Mingi’s stomach sink as he jumped to conclusions. “I just wasn’t feeling very well, you didn’t need to see me like that. Anyways,” she leaned to the side of Mingi to look at the two suspiciously quiet men, who had been exchanging knowing glances between themselves.

“Hi! I’m Y/n,” She walked into the store and held her hand out for Jae to shake.

“Jae, pleasure to meet you,” he smiled back at her and she moved over to Hongjoong.

“And I’m Hongjoong.” They shook hands.

She gestured to his hair, “I’m loving the red,”

The man in question smiled shyly at her, “Thank you.”

She walked over to the disarrayed furniture and began picking up and organising the broken and salvageable pieces. Mingi tore his eyes away from her before his mind wandered and he became lost in the mystery that she was.

. . .

Mingi was sat in the well-worn spinning chair in their office, sorting through the scattered paperwork and picking up the pieces of his dad’s favourite mug, which almost exclusively lived in the office and accompanied him while he did his taxes.

Mingi’s head was still slowly spinning, a mixture of residual hangover and guilt causing his equilibrium to all but disappear. As he looked over the bills his family were already struggling to pay, he felt the familiar numbness slowly sink into his skin, the kind you get when you’ve irrevocably messed up. The last time he had felt this feeling so strongly was when he was nine and had accidentally let Hongjoong’s cat outside and Muffin had been missing for three days.

There was a light knocking on the door. Mingi turned around to see Y/n standing in the doorway, two cups in her hands, “You want some company?”

Mingi shuffled around the papers on the desk to make room for the cups and pulled out the spare chair in the room, “Of course.”

She stepped cautiously over the paperwork calamity and gently placed the cups down before getting comfy on the chair, “How’re you coping with this all?”

Mingi sighed, running his hands through his hair, “I feel awful, I should have been here.”

She placed her hand on his thigh, looking at him with a sympathetic smile, “You’re allowed to take nights off, hell you’re allowed to live for yourself Mingi.”

“But I can’t; if I had been here last night none of this would have happened.”

Y/n squeezed his thigh and Mingi’s heart jumped in response, “Or you could have gotten hurt trying to confront them. There’s no use in dwelling on the ‘what if’s and ‘what could have been’s of life Mingi.”

He looked down at his hand, which toyed with her fingers, “I don’t know how we’re going to pay for new display cases, or even a new tv,” he paused, looking up at her with panicked eyes, “Not that I want you to, you’ve already done enough.” She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “I’ll probably just dip into my savings and help get them.”

“I don’t mind you know,” she smiled at him shyly.

He shook his head, “Which is exactly why I won’t let you do any more than you already have. You’re too generous and I could never repay you.”

“Not to sound like a stuck-up rich person but, money doesn’t mean anything to me Mingi.”

He dropped his eyes back down to their hands as he remembered their conversations of Y/n’s familial wealth. Mingi felt the green-eyed monster leering over his shoulder and he sighed, “Some of us have beat-up trucks and we worry about taking pretty girls on dates in said trucks in case they get embarrassed. Some of us worry about being stuck in this small town forever, not being able to amount to _enough_ to escape, and having to trap the pretty girl here with us. We want to amount to more, but there isn’t much _more_ out there for bakers from the middle of nowhere.”

Her fingers intertwined with his and she tugged him closer. The wheels of his chair rolled towards her until their faces were inches apart. His heart was in his throat. She was so close, he could see the tiredness in her eyes, angry red veins begging to be allowed sleep. He could smell her perfume, he didn’t realise he had gotten used to the smell and that he could have missed it so much. He felt her fingers gently settle between his, and he enjoyed the way they felt, how they fit snuggly in between his.

She smiled at him softly, “I have travelled to every continent on this planet. I have snorkelled in the Caribbean, hiked up mountains in Yellowstone, raced cars in Monaco, and I’ve met Mickey Mouse in every Disneyland. But none of those experiences made me feel the way I do with you.” Her voice sounded so warm and inviting, like a warm cup of tea on a rainy day. He never wanted her to stop talking.

“Mingi, when I’m with you I feel like _myself._ I don’t feel like the rich kid that everyone sucked up to in high school, I don’t feel like the obedient daughter, or the girlfriend,” she scrunched her nose at the word. “For once I feel like _me_ , like you really see me, and you . . . maybe, like me for me. And that I could be enough as I am.”

He squeezed her hands, “Of course you’re enough as you are Y/n-”

“Then, I hope you can see how you’re enough for me _as you are._ That money isn’t important, but the person is.”

He felt himself smiling, a big soft smile that he thought should only be reserved for Y/n, and she smiled back at him, squeezing his hands gently and tugging him forward further, closer towards her. Their noses bumped together and Mingi felt the butterflies in his tummy transform into a flutter of elephants. He instinctively looked down at her lips, just to see how close they were, and cursed himself for doing so when he noted how soft they looked.

Y/n’s hand came up to the side of his face, stroking his cheek gently. She giggled suddenly.

“What?” he asked.

She giggled again, “Peach fuzz.” She rubbed his cheek affectionately and he rolled his eyes.

“I can’t grow a beard, let me live.” He loved the way her laugh sounded.

She leaned in close and bumped her nose with his again, “It’s cute.” He felt her lips gently brush the corner of his mouth and the hair on the back of his neck raised, a shiver running down his spine.

“You think I’m cute?” He teased.

“Well I don’t come here for the pastries Mingi.”

His witty comeback was long forgotten the second he felt her lips on his. He felt his body relax, the built-up tension he didn’t realise he had was finally released. He pulled her closer by her hip, he heard her make a noise of contentment in response. His other hand gently held her face, ghosting his thumb over her cheek.

Mingi’s heart was racing. His head was spinning again but this time he was sure it had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with Y/n.

He pulled back first, needing to steady his heartbeat. He held her face in his hands, leaning up to press a lingering kiss on her forehead, “I didn’t think you wanted to do that with me,” he mumbled against her skin, embarrassed by his confession.

She giggled once more, and Mingi was sure the world could be healed by her giggles alone. “You underestimate how charming you are Song Mingi, and that’s a crime.”

. . .

All hands on deck made quick work of cleaning the shop. Mingi and Hongjoong sorted out the ransacked back of house; sorting through scattered paperwork and equipment that had been broken during the break-in, while Hongjoong, Jae and Y/n cleaned up the front of house and got rid of everything that was broken.

The group were squished around one of the café tables, enjoying the array of foods Mrs Song had brought downstairs for them.

Jae was in the middle of explaining how dumplings were the Asian equivalent to ravioli when there was a knock on the door frame and all attention turned to the group of men stood at the door.

Three of them were in paint-stained overalls and the other two were in black suits.

Y/n stood up first, the rest of the group followed.

“Francis, how lovely to see you,” she hugged the shortest man in overalls, kissing each of his cheeks.

The man smiled at her, “Always happy to help you out, you’re like family you know that.” He turned his attention to the rest of the group, “And whose lovely bakery is this?”

Mingi stepped forward, “That would be me, sir.” Mingi’s eyes darted between the man and Y/n who was in a heated conversation with the two men in suits.

Mingi zoned in and out of the conversation with the man, picking up on few of the details of what had entailed during their talk, only that they would take lunch as their payment and that the windows would be set by the time the sun had gone down.

Jae tilted his head, focussing his gaze on the well-dressed gentlemen who were lurking outside the bakery talking to Y/n. He noticed another man walking up to them, causing everyone to go silent and bow. The man was average in height and build, with slick black hair and full cheeks. Jae felt a chill creep up his spine when he looked at the man in question, he didn’t look particularly intimidating but something in his gut was telling him to run.

He gently tapped Hongjoong on the arm, “Does that guy look familiar to you?” He jutted his chin towards the man of interest.

Hongjoong narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the man through the window as if he was running through his own personal database of faces, “Nope, don’t think so.”

“Nah, I’m sure I know him. Was he at that team-building retreat we went to?”

Hongjoong paused for a minute, “I mean . . . maybe? But in all honesty, I was drunk for majority of that weekend so it’s a bit of a blur.”

“You did what?” Jae laughed incredulously.

Hongjoong shrugged in response and his cheeks reddened, as if an old memory was igniting his cheeks.

Jae locked eyes with the strange man and gave him a smile and a cheery wave. The apprehensive head nod he received in return told him he was completely wrong and Jae felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him.

Mingi walked up to Jae and Hongjoong, “You guys can clear off if you want to. Thanks for coming out to help today, I really owe you guys one.”

Hongjoong pulled Mingi into a hug, “No worries, I’m here for you guys whenever you need.”

“And I’m always down to help if free food is involved,” Jae beamed.

The two men left, walking gingerly around the goons in suits that lurked outside. The raven-haired man pulled Y/n abruptly away from them as they walked by. Hongjoong furrowed his brow, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinised the situation. His body tensed in alarm upon seeing how tight the man was gripping Y/n, her skin pinched and twisted painfully in his unyielding grasp.

Hongjoong started to interrupt them but Jae yanked his arm sharply, giving him a warning look. Hongjoong begrudgingly shut his mouth and kept walking.

. . .

Mingi helped the men measure up the windowpanes. He was now in earshot of the heated conversation Y/n was having with the three men. He tried not to eavesdrop, knowing it wasn’t his place to be listening in on what was being said, but he couldn’t help but be on edge. With hushed shouts of “I didn’t give you permission to be here,” and “I shouldn’t need your permission,” Mingi soon caught on to the topic of the argument.

He saw the man release Y/n’s hand from his grip roughly and Mingi knew it was time to step in. “Hey,” the group turned to him and he smiled brightly despite the cold looks from everyone except Y/n. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

The man, who he assumed was the infamous ‘Woo’, looked up at him for a split second, “We’re fine thanks.” His words were sharp and venomous.

“Are you sure? You sounded like you could use a break to calm down and cool off,” Mingi tried to sound cheerful and like his entire body wasn’t screaming at him to get Y/n out of there and far, far away from this situation.

The two broader men made to move towards him but the man stopped them, raising a single figure.

He turned his attention solely on Mingi, “I don’t believe we’ve met,” His voice was suddenly obnoxiously friendly, paired with an unnervingly wide smile. Mingi felt nerves rise in his throat as the man reached a hand out towards him, “I’m Wooyoung, Y/n’s _boyfriend.”_

He shook Mingi’s hand with far too much force but Mingi was determined not to flinch, much to Wooyoung’s disappointment.

“Mingi.” He responded calmly.

Wooyoung clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Ahh! The infamous baker, nice to finally meet you. My dear Y/n here has mentioned you a few times too many,” His smile faltered momentarily, tightness becoming visible for a split second. “Glad to have a face to go along with the name.”

Mingi broke his eye contact for a split second to look over at Y/n, she was rubbing her wrist and had worry written all over her face.

Wooyoung clapped loudly again, drawing Mingi’s attention back to his awaiting eyes. “Now, my girlfriend is going out of her way to do you a favour here, she’s being far too nice in fact. So why don’t you just accept the kindness and scram, huh?”

Mingi glanced back at Y/n and could see her bottom lip trembling, tears threatening to spill. She minutely shook her head, a plea for him to not push Wooyoung any further.

Wooyoung jabbed a finger into Mingi’s chest, gaining his attention. “Stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Mingi felt trapped. He knew that this man in front of him was powerful. Not in a physical way, because Mingi didn’t doubt for a second that he could take Wooyoung (the other guys, not so much) but in the terms of status. If it wasn’t for Y/n telling Mingi that Wooyoung was wealthy, the Rolex watch and Gucci earrings would have been a dead give away. He reeked wealth, power, and ‘my father will hear about this’ status. One punch and Mingi would have a golden ticket straight to jail.

Mingi felt small and powerless. And he hated it.

He nodded and smiled tightly.

Wooyoung beamed at him and patted his cheek in a patronising manner, “Good lad. Now run along, don’t you have some bread to attend to?”

Mingi risked a glance at Y/n as he walked into the shopfront, her eyes were trained firmly on the ground beneath her feet. He was almost certain he could see tear tracks glistening on her cheeks.

. . .


End file.
